Pope Francis prayed on Saturday before the body of one of Catholicism's most popular saints, Padre Pio, a mystic monk who is said to have wrestled with the Devil.
More than 1,000 evangelicals and missionaries from the World Council of Churches' Conference on World Mission and Evangelism (CWME) have issued a 'Call to Discipleship' warning of 'death-dealing forces' and the 'shocking accumulation of wealth' in the world today.
The Vatican has admitted that it altered a photo sent to the media of a letter from the retired pope Benedict XVI which praised Pope Francis, blurring a paragraph in which Benedict said he would not read about Francis's theology.
The former Pope Benedict XVI has said there is an 'inner continuity' between his pontificate and that of Pope Francis, and praised his successor as a 'man of profound philosophical and theological formation'.
The pope's director of communications has told Christian Today that Francis's legacy five years after being elected is one of spreading love and forgiveness throughout the world, to Catholics and non-Catholics alike, saying the pope 'has done an extraordinary job getting that message out'.
Five years into Pope Francis's time in the role he remains highly popular, but growing numbers of American Catholics on the political right view him as 'too liberal' and 'naive' according to a new survey by the respected Pew Research Center.